A memorable match for Bangladesh, for many reasons, such as their first knockout game at the World Cup ( ever ) and the robbery under the lights that put their lights out. The second reason will be big news in Bangladesh for a while yet. ( If you drive down to Buffalo, NY, (more…)

This is the World Cup that started with a bang, with plenty of excitement, some strong showings, and surprises. It then tapered off into a sludge of matches of little or no import. About the only thing left was to see whether Ireland could pip the West Indies and Pakistan to a quarter final spot. Which they deserved more than the West Indies, really.

Then it was was time for QF 1. This the real deal, the place where run rates don’t really matter, methods, plans and data matters only if you can win. For the losers, there is a (more…)

First let’s the world cup record out of the way. Yes , Chris Gayle got 215. Yes, he got it against Zimbabwe in the death overs. Yes, Zimbabwe have shown they don’t know what to do once they get to that point. Maybe they get tired, who knows. I don’t think it’s quite as wonderful news for the West Indies as is being made out to be. They say that Gayle should take his time to settle in. They say (more…)

What an absolute disaster! For England. To be fair to England, I did not expect them to win, for I do not expect them to do well in this World Cup. Of course, history tells us that the last time England made it to the final was in 1992, in Australia and of course England fans will take heart from this history lesson. Back then, England won 5 out of 8 matches, with the round robin against Pakistan yielding no result when they were well ahead. Interesting, they failed to (more…)

By Ben Sutherland (Flickr: Eoin Morgan of England) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsIt’s been a strange first week at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 edition. Two of the biggest matches have already been completed. Australia beat England, to no one’s surprise and then India beat Pakistan, to no Indian’s surprise. I must confess a slight feeling of doubt. Oh no, not about England losing, but about India winning.

3 or 4 years later, <after this story> I was in Canada, far removed from cricket. A chance remark by a friend at dinner found me searching out a cricket club in Canada.

Their first question “Do you keep wickets?”

“No, I don’t , but I bat a bit and bowl a bit.”

They were unimpressed by my bowling skill. Twenty years of rust were hard to shake off. Once again I found myself batting at #5, #9 and then, of course, #3. That old familiar state of affairs. I looked like a batsman, therefore I must be. I played for the club for 4 years and did not bowl a ball. I would get some action at practice sessions, 10-12 deliveries at best. Like giving a patient with a broken leg (more…)

Continuing the earlier post about T20, inspired by this analytical article. In recent years the ODI has been threatened by T20. (if you don't know what either of those two terms mean, you can stop reading now, for none of the following will make any more sense. However, you can use Google to find out, or take the help of a friend who does know and thus be enlightened. For Knowledge is Power they say...) I challenge…